Qualities Without Opposite

Qualities Without an Opposite

1. Safeer

Linguistically: sharpness of sound; the sound of a bird.

Technically: a whistling sound resembling a bird's, accompanying the pronunciation of the letter.

Its letters: three letters — Saad, Zaa, and Seen (s(sad), z, s). Safeer is strongest when the letter is silent, as in yuswis in ﴾الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ﴿ (An-Nas: 5)

2. Qalqalah

Linguistically: movement.

Technically: a disturbance at the articulation point when pronouncing the letter, appearing clearly as a strong bounce when the letter is silent.

Its letters: five letters, gathered in Ibn Al-Jazari's phrase: "Qutb Jad".

All these letters share the qualities of Shiddah and Jahr. Since Jahr prevents the breath from flowing and Shiddah prevents the sound from flowing, the articulation point must "bounce" for the letter's sound to emerge.

Qalqalah is an essential quality of the letters of Qutb Jad whether they are voweled or silent, though it is more apparent when the letter is silent.

How it is performed:

Qalqalah in a silent letter is an independent sound — neither a fatha, damma, nor kasra — unaffected by the preceding vowel. All three cases occur together in ﴾فِي مقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ مُ٪قْتَدِرٍ﴿ (Al-Qamar: 55).

It is performed by quickly releasing the tongue or lips from the articulation point.

Note: Some hold that Qalqalah's pitch follows the vowel of the preceding letter — leaning toward fatha, damma, or kasra accordingly. Others hold that Qalqalah always leans toward fatha, regardless of the preceding vowel. The correct view, which we adopt, is that Qalqalah is an independent sound unaffected by what precedes it.

Its categories:

1. Major Qalqalah: when the Qalqalah letter is doubled (shaddah) at the end of a word being stopped on — such as al-hajj in ﴾يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الأَهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجِّ﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 189), and al-haqq in ﴾قَالُواْ الآنَ جِئْتَ بِالحَقِّ﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 71).

2. Middle Qalqalah: when the Qalqalah letter is silent (not doubled) at the end of a word being stopped on — such as al-falq in ﴾قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ﴿ (Al-Falaq: 1), and similarly in qarib, ahad, moheet.

3. Minor Qalqalah: when the Qalqalah letter is silent in the middle of a word, or at the end of a word not being stopped on — such as aftatma'una and sadq and muqtadir in ﴾فِي مقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ مُ٪قْتَدِرٍ﴿ (Al-Qamar: 55); likewise in fastajbna, yad'oonana, astajib lakum.

3. Leen

Linguistically: ease.

Technically: a letter emerging from its articulation point with ease and smoothness.

Its letters: two — the silent Waw and Yaa (not the Madd ones) preceded by a fatha, such as khawf, hayt, bayt.

Some scholars add the Alif, since Alif is always silent and always preceded by a fatha.

4. Inhiraf

Linguistically: deviation.

Technically: the letter deviating from its articulation point until it draws near another's.

Its letters: two — Lam and Raa (l, r).

Lam deviates towards the side of the tongue's articulation point, and Raa deviates towards the back of the tongue with a slight lean towards Lam's articulation point.

5. Tafashshi

Linguistically: spreading.

Technically: the air spreading in the mouth when pronouncing the letter.

Its letters: one letter — Sheen (sh).

6. Takreer

Linguistically: repetition.

Technically: a slight vibration of the tip of the tongue when pronouncing the letter.

Its letters: one letter — Raa (r).

The purpose of mentioning this quality is to guard against it, not to perform it — especially when the Raa is doubled, as in ﴾الرَّحْمَچنِ الرَّحِيمِچ﴿ (Al-Fatiha: 3). Describing the Raa with Takreer means it is prone to it, not that it should be done deliberately — each vibration of the tongue produces another Raa, so the reciter must never allow more than a single articulation of the Raa.

The way to conceal Takreer is by pressing the back of the tongue firmly against the corresponding part of the upper palate a single time, so that it does not vibrate.

Practice this well by recording your own voice and comparing your articulation of the Raa against a qualified reciter's recitation.

7. Istitalah

Linguistically: extension.

Technically: the length of the articulation point, extending from the front edge of the tongue to its back, spanning the whole of the palate.

Its letters: one letter — Ddaad (d(dad)). Examples: al-maghdoob and ad-dalleen in ﴾صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ غَيرِ المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّينَ﴿ (Al-Fatiha: 7), and ﴾وَالضُّحٱى﴿ (Ad-Duha: 1).

8. Verses of Al-Jazariyyah

 صَفِيرُهَا صَادٌ  وَزَايٌ سـِيـنُ     قَلْقَلَةٌ (قُـطْـبُ جَـدٍّ) وَالـلِّـيـنُ

وَاوٌ وَيَاءٌ سَكَنَـا وَانْفـَتَـحَـا     قَبْلَهُمَا وَالانْــحِـرَافُ صُـحَّـحَا

فِي اللاًَّمِ وَالرَّا وَبِتَكْرِيـرٍ جُعِلْ     وَللتَّـفَشِّي الشِّيْـنُ ضَـادًا اسْتُطِلْ

Its Safeer is Saad, Zaa, Seen; its Qalqalah ("Qutb Jad"); its Leen

Waw and Yaa, silent, preceded by an open vowel; and Inhiraf is confirmed

In Lam and Raa; and Takreer is placed there too; and for Tafashshi, Sheen; and Ddaad has Istitalah